The passing of John Ewbank.The Australian climbing community has been shocked to learn of the passing away of John Ewbank on December 2, in New York as a result of tragic complications following emergency abdominal surgery earlier in the year.

John, the architect of the Australian Climbing Grading System, was instrumental in putting up many iconic climbs in this country that one contributor refers to as;

The Blue Mountains, and indeed the whole country, is so peppered with Ewbank routes to the point that I dare say if you have not at some point climbed a Ewbank route then you have not really climbed . . . The cliffs would be a lesser place without his contributions, and will not seem quite the same without him.